Back from Miami: 46 hours of driving and a Sweet 16

I was supposed to drive to Miami for the NCAA Tournament with Wesley Johnson (the team cannot pay for a transfer student's travel to road games) so we could bond and strengthen our friendship. I even had a Flip video camera to post a video blog about our journey.

But Wes backed out on me at the last minute. He drove from his hometown of Corsicana, Texas to Syracuse for summer classes in July and decided he never wanted to put himself through the torture of another near 1,500 mile drive.

Paul Harris' cousin Dexter (of Paul Harris' rap video fame haha) called to ask if I wanted to ride with him. I couldn't decide and packed, unpacked, and packed again.

I turned down the offer but called him as he was about to hop on 81-S and said "I'm in" because it would've been too emotional watching the games on TV knowing I chickened out.

At first I dialed Wes' number to call him a variety of derogatory names, but after the trip I'm just calling him a smart man.

That's a brutal drive.

Trip to Miami notes:

+ Jonny Flynn texted me at 10:00 p.m. on Sunday: "Hey we just landed hahahaha." He had to rub it in. We left at 6:00 p.m. and were near Jacksonville, with seven more states to cross before New York.

+ We made it to the Vero Beach exit in 20 hours and were only 100 miles from Miami, but literally did not move for two hours after police shot and killed a carjacker on I-95. The only sun I got all week (it was sunny and 80 during games and rainy in off time) was when I got out and laid down in the grass and palm trees on the expressway during the holdup.

+ Dexter is a human iPod - if Apple manufactured the music devices with a terabyte of memory - and I soon realized I wasn't going to get much sleep.

I wasn't previously aware he knows the lyrics to every rap/hip-hop/R&B track ever recorded (heck, even Lifehouse's "Hanging by a Moment" came on the radio and sang along).

He went through four different iPods and every single song was a performance. He rapped, sang and danced to the loudest music I've ever heard like he was on stage in front of 20,000 fans and got stronger as the night went on.

+ The man is also a driving machine. He drove from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. non-stop on the way down until I took over, and 6:30 p.m. to 8 a.m. on the way back.

+ I had to turn off Dexter's rap music when I was at the wheel after pulling over twice as a precaution because I heard police and ambulance sirens...but the emergency noises were in the song.

+ Advice: Don't try to track a trip by percentage complete. I thought it would be more bearable to think of the trip as one percent for each 14 miles. I regretted that strategy when we arrived at Harrisburg, PA - a solid four hours and 250 miles from Syracuse - and we'd driven 18 percent of the way to Miami.

Arizona State Game Recap
It was another day of fun in the sun for Syracuse in Miami. The Orange advanced to the Sweet 16 with a 78-67 victory over Arizona State as the sun set on the Sun Devils' season.

Paul Harris as his crew began celebrating Syracuse's first trip to the third round in five years with a minute, 38 seconds still on the clock and the Orange up 12 points.

In the huddle when we brought it in, everybody said on three, 'Sweet 16,'" Harris said.

"That just shows you the happiness and we've come a long way since the start of the season and just to keep progressing. We're just going to try to keep going and win the whole thing."

"Knowing the history of this program, we're kind of supposed to make it to the Sweet 16, from the players all the way back to national championships, Final Fours, Elite 8s. From going to not even winning a first round game in my career to the Sweet 16 and a chance to advance to the Elite 8 is a blessing."
- Eric Devendorf

Need to rephrase that question
Eric Devendorf was asked in the Syracuse locker room if he'll be comfortable playing in Memphis after he already made a trip in December to the FedEx Forum.

"I didn't make that trip to Memphis," Devendorf said.

He was suspended.

Dennis Nett/The Post-StandardPac-10 Player of the Year James Harden scored 10 points on 2-for-10 shooting.

A Hard-en time for ASU star
The Sun Devils' trio of Harden, Pendergraph and Glasser scored 22 points on 6-for-23 from the field. They combine to average 44 points per game.

Harden has been named first team All American by a multitude of outlets but didn't score a point in the first half or a field goal until the 9:41 mark of the second half. The sophomore finished with 10 points.

Boeheim was forthright in his analysis of Harden's performance.

"Harden did nothing, he was really passive," Boeheim said. "When he was on the perimeter, we weren't concerned. If anything, we were going to let him shoot the three over the other three guys."

Flynn said the team was pumped up to play against one of the top players in the country.

"You see him on TV, you know you hear about his name, First Team All-American, NBA-type talent on the college level," Flynn said.

"That kind of fires us up. Every time you play against a guy with that much ability on the basketball court, you're wired up to stop him...We thought coming into this game that he would get his points, but you wanted it to be hard points, you wanted there to be a hand in his face, you wanted to hit him, send him to the free-throw line and make it a tough game."

Harden agreed with Boeheim that he was too passive in the first half.

"At halftime my teammates talked to me and said, 'I need you to be more aggressive,'" Harden said.

"I shouldn't have waited until the second half. I should have been as aggressive in the first half as I was in the second half."

Dennis Nett/The Post-Standard

Three huge 3s
The Orange let a 15 points lead slip away and were only up four with six-and-a-half minutes to play.

Jonny Flynn penetrated and got the ball to Rautins for a 3. Then Flynn sliced through the ASU zone and found Devendorf in the right corner for three more.

The next possession Andy Rautins split the defense (yeah he can do that now) and passed to Devendorf in left corner for another 3-pointer. Devo held his follow through and the Orange held on for the win.

"Big players make big shots, make big plays and play big games," Flynn said. "Andy Rautins coming off an 0-for-6 shooting night came down here and it was like that game didn't even happen to him.

Rautins and Devendorf were both coming off poor shooting performances but neither was hesitant to step up in the clutch.

"Regardless as a shooter you have to keep shooting not matter what," Rautins said. "Eric and I, we didn't shoot the ball well last game and we came out and were stroking it well today (psst). That's what good shooters do, they bounce back and they stay confident."

"Knowing that I have the confidence to shoot that shot," Devendorf said. "A lot of people shy away from the moment but me, I like that, make or miss, I'm going to take that shot because if you don't take it you're not going to make it, obviously."

"Eric Devendorf, you can't say enough about this guy. He did it in the Big East Tournament and now he's doing it on an even bigger stage in the NCAA Tournament." - Jonny Flynn

"Even though Jonny is a sophomore, he's a veteran player, the best point guard in America.- Eric Devendorf

Arizona State's run
Rihards Kuksiks buried a 3 from the left wing and then James Harden started contributing.

The All-American scored his only field goals during a 15-4 ASU spurt and added two rebounds, two steals and an assist, and the Sun Devils cut a 15 points deficit to four.

Boeheim called a timeout, calmed his team down, and used his "wizardry" (as Jonny Flynn would say) to calm his team and draw up a play.

"Coming into that time-out when we were up four points, it's easy to get rattled," Flynn said. "We were up, had a big lead, but Coach Boeheim really sat us down and said, 'Look at the score, look at the time, and we're winning the game.'"

"You tend to lose focus just because a team makes a great run or starts hitting a couple shots. You start to think you're down when in actuality you're winning the game He told use we're up, and he really kept us poised in the huddle and really put a nice game plan together, made a nice in-game adjustment."

AP/J. Pat Carter

Great in paint
After an insipid Big East Tournament by the Syracuse centers, the Orange pounded the ball in the post in Miami, taking advantage of smaller Steven F. Austin and Arizona State.

"I thought the key early is getting it inside," Boeheim said. "I thought our guys did a great job of getting it in there. And then after we got some inside looks, Andy came in and hit a couple threes."

Jackson and AO each reach double figured in both tournament games. Ricky posted 12.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game and Onuaku 12.0 points and 5.0 rebounds (a little low), and the Orange didn't need either big man to play 30 minutes in the victories.

"Our inside game has gotten better as we've gone along," Boeheim said. "Ricky has gotten better. Arinze was great in the early part of the year...But he's just starting to get back to being effective again, and Ricky and him together are better now. And that's why we're better off on offense than I think we were."

Notes:
+ Arizona State's bench scored a grand total of five points in two tournament games

+Syracuse scored 11 fast break points to a goose egg for ASU.

+ Billy Gabor, Gerry McNamara, Pearl Washington and John Wallace were in attendance.

+ ASU entered the game with a school record 275 3-pointers made this year and had connected on 13-of-35 shots from downtown.

+ Eric Devendorf has scored 20-plus points in four of the last five games.